Of Two Hearts
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day five hundred and seventy-nine: The day has come for Brittany to share her home time between her mother's and the Pierce home.


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 27th cycle. Now cycle 28!_

_**A/N:** Okay, so at the moment I'm slowly starting to plot out the next maybe three or so cycles, which is at least 63 new stories, and before I do this I wanted to ask you guys if you had anything you'd wish to see written, suggestions... Also, what would really help, if you have ideas for concepts for sets (like I've done the alphabet (twice), colors, sins and virtues, episode titles, etc), let me hear 'em! (via private message, if possible!) Thanks :) - **UPDATE! I'm going to be planning the next five cycles, which will take me through to September. So if you have ideas/wishes/anything, now is the time to speak up! :)**_

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><p><strong>"Of Two Hearts"<br>Sue & Brittany & the Pierces  
>Sylvesters Series #23 (sequel to "Home is where the heart is") <strong>

They had known the day would come, especially as they went through and returned from their vacation together, just the two of them… But once they came home, it felt like it was coming… the day Brittany began her dual-home living. She would 'move in' with her father and his family, where she would spend one week, from Monday to Friday before returning to her mother's for the next week and the weekends on either side of it. Five days at one place, nine at another… it was already better than she could ever hope for. Before this could happen, there was something she wanted to get done, and she wasn't going to let it go without trying. As her mother sorted through the mail that had gathered in their absence, Brittany stood at the door.

"He wants you to come to dinner," she told her mother, without saying who the 'he' was… She'd figure it out, somehow.

"I don't think so," Sue said without looking up.

"Please?" Brittany begged, and as much as Sue told herself not to look, she did, and she saw Brittany's eyes, unknowingly giving her innocent puppy dog eyes. Sue tried to break her gaze away, but it just couldn't be done. She put the envelopes down and sat back.

"Fine, I'll go," she conceded, and the puppy eyes were instantly replaced by a mighty grin. "Go unpack."

"Okay," Brittany ran off.

So on the day Brittany would be moving her things for the Pierce home, she and Sue would have dinner with Joe, his wife Charlotte, and their daughters, Cat and Izzy. As they got closer to the date, Sue took up the task of making sure Brittany would have everything she needed. She knew Joe had told her that they would furnish the room, get her a bed and furniture, anything that was meant to stand in place. All Brittany had to do was bring what she wanted to put in it. This seemed easy enough, except she knew her daughter, and she could see the difficulty of having to choose what she wanted to take away from one room or not. So the last day before the move, Sue had gone into the mall, with one task. She was going to get anything and everything that could make her transition easier.

Neither of them wanted that Saturday night to feel like they were on the verge of some big separation. They had their dinner, spent their evening as they would any week… business as usual.

Except as she lay in her bed that night, Brittany could see the couple bags, the few boxes, just sitting there, and even if she turned over in her bed, all she saw were holes where things had been removed… What if she was making a mistake? Her mother kept saying she'd be alright, but Brittany couldn't convince herself. And she loved her father, and her stepmother, and her sisters…she wanted to live with them, too, she really did. They had been without her, the way her mother would now be without her… Could it be fair to one person more than the other?

She wasn't getting any sleep, and it wasn't going to happen, even if she tried. Lord Tubbington didn't seem to have any trouble with all this. He was purring next to her bed… 'Good for you,' she thought. She couldn't wake him up, so she got up and tiptoed out of her room. The house was quiet… not silent. She could hear something, very faint, and she followed the sound. It grew louder as she approached, until finally she figured it out… the living room. The room was dark except for the glow of the television illuminating her mother's face, as she sat on the couch. Sue looked up and saw her standing there, and she sighed… of course she couldn't sleep either.

"Come on," she patted the space by her side.

In the end, it was just what they needed. Though neither said a word, it reminded them of when Brittany was little – perhaps even today – when on stormy nights, she was convinced the sky was angry at her, sending her running to that couch and her mother's arms. And just as she did then, she finally fell asleep against her shoulder. When she would wake up in the morning, she'd be laid out on the couch with a pillow under her head and a blanket over her – the sky's way of saying it was sorry.

But now it was Sunday morning, moving day, and as Brittany woke up, groggy and still confused to the world, Sue was already working overtime to get everything ready to go, and when she figured out what time it was, Brittany understood… She'd let her sleep in, and in a short time they would be heading out. They weren't going to say goodbye… it wasn't like that. And, sure, they had been apart before, but this was different. No matter how much they'd ended up on opposite ends because of who Sue was, and who Brittany was, and where they stood on things like Glee Club, in this home and in this moment they were just mother and daughter and they were headed for a change in their lives, something that could threaten who they were together. Brittany would insist that nothing would change, but underneath they both had doubts and fears.

They put that aside as they drove to the Pierce home. Brittany didn't want her father to think she didn't want to be there, and Sue wasn't generally one to show her emotions except to her sister or daughter. When they arrived, Joe barely had time to greet them before Cat and Izzy ran in, grabbed Brittany's hands, and took her upstairs to see her room. Sue stood there silently, staring back at Joe; neither of them knew what to say.

"We helped pick everything!" Cat told Brittany as they were reaching the top of the stairs.

"Hope you like it!" Izzy added.

"I'm sure I will," Brittany nodded. The two girls positioned themselves on either side of the door, and Cat turned the knob so Izzy could push the door open. They could well have said 'ta-da!' Brittany gasped and smiled, entering the room. "Guys, this is awesome!" she looked to her sisters, who were grinning with pride.

The turquoise wallpaper with the pink flowers had remained from when this was Cat's room. Brittany had been on hand to help her move into Izzy's room. She'd felt bad about basically kicking her out of her room, but the way she said it, Cat was absolutely fine with it, if it meant that Brittany would stay with them. That had stayed behind, as well as the curtains, but everything else was new. Well, all except one thing. Sue had suggested that they send her bed to the Pierce home, and have the one that Joe had bought her sent back to the Sylvester home, so that even as she was away, she could have this. Joe had mentioned something about repainting the frame, to cover a row of scratches at the bottom of the bed, but Brittany insisted on keeping them. He asked why, but she wouldn't say.

"We can help you unpack," Izzy affirmed, dashing back downstairs. The bags and the boxes were taken upstairs, by the three of them and Sue, Joe, and Charlotte. They offered to help, but the girls insisted on taking care of it on their own. Cat busied herself at putting away the clothes, Izzy took care of the smaller things like picture frames and the likes, and Brittany took care of the rest, the things that would make this her room. Cheerios and Glee Club and Blippo the blue hippo… They finished just in time for dinner, and for Sue's departure. When Brittany found out she was leaving, she frowned, but then Sue pulled her aside.

"You have to be with them now, just you," she insisted. "I'll just… I'll be in the way."

"You won't," Brittany shook her head, but Sue took her hands.

"I'll see you on Saturday, and you can tell me everything. I won't miss a word of it," Sue promised, which got a smile out of Brittany. It was faded as she remembered her mother was about to leave. Sometimes she really wished the world would know this side of her, the parts only she knew… but then it did make her special to her mother.

"Can I still hug you?" Brittany asked, trying to make discreet work of indicating the Pierces standing nearby. Sue's eyes veered to the side as well, but she wasn't going to let this moment be taken from her, so she hugged her daughter goodbye.

That night, Brittany found herself just as sleepless as she had the night before. Even if they'd moved her belongings in, the place still didn't completely feel like it was hers… her room… She didn't notice the sound of the door opening and closing, until she saw Cat and Izzy, standing at the foot of her bed. They didn't say a word, but she knew why they were there. She smiled, and she moved over, making space so they could both crawl in, three sisters huddled together, falling asleep one by one.

THE END

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><p><strong>AN: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.  
><strong>**In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are  
><strong>**always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!**


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